Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kiwiluvesyew]

My employer is not taking out enough income tax. I know at the end of the year it is possible to get partial refund for paid income tax. Will the fact that my employer is not taking enough taxes eventually come around to haunt me - i.e., will Korea make me pay MORE taxes at the end of the year if I try to get my reimbursement because I did not pay enough taxes; or anything of the sort?

[marlow]

I pay about 20,000 won per month on over 2M salary. I'm a Canadian at a public school. It seems absurdly too low.

[jackson7]

If you don't pay enough, you make up for it when you file (or your school files for you, as the case is in Korea). If you paid too much, you'll get it back in January's (or sometimes in February's) paycheck. That's the way tax works.

You can search here and find a thread with the tax website that will give you the proper % that should be paid each month. I'm pretty sure for those making around 2.0 it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 (1.5%). However, most schools take out around 3%, so you end up getting back about 350,000 won at the end of the year. That is, if your school is honest. I got back 600,000 my last year at my hagwon because of some pay increases and bonuses that got taxed at the 3-3.5% rate.

[marlow]

[hari seldon]

I don't believe that the calculator on the NTS website (http://www.nts.go.kr/eng/help/help_52.asp?top_code=H001&sub_code=HS05&ssub_code=HSE2#) accounts for pension deductions.

[kiwiluvesyew]

I make 2.4 million a month and the contract I signed said that I should have 3.3% taken out for income tax. The information book they gave us when I got here said that the tax rate was 2.67% for 2.4 million, which they calculated as being 64,680 won. OK....
Then I got my receipt for my first month's pay and 44,290 was taken out on one line and 4,420 was taken out on the next line. When I asked what they were, they said those were "taxes". So a total of 48,710 in "income taxes", about 2.03% from what I calculated.
A total of 103,500 was taken out for my pension, which would be 4.5% IF I made 2.3 million a month, which I don't. The reason I mention that is that on my stub it has 2,300,000 on one line and then it adds 100,000 for a total of 2.4 million. What kind of scam they are running that they need to do that, I'm not sure of yet. But I know that they are cheating me of 5,500 won a month for my pension b/c I should have 108,000 taken out for my salary of 2.4 million, which would be matched by the employer (and of course I get it back at the end of the year). Would they really go through so much trouble to shaft me on 5,500 won a month?
I'm thinking more and more yes.
Of course they also tried to take 50,000 won out for a "maintenance fee" on my apartment. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Not in the contract, but their response is the typical "it's a normal Korean expense" and "no one's complained before". I'm still working on them. I said I need it back by Friday or I will just not pay any of my legit bills for 50,000 worth.

And all the while I've yet to get my ARC so all of this is in their pocket. My 2.4 million slowly turned into 2,197,790. This hakwon/hagwon has money coming out of it's ears!!! They're no where near financial trouble, and yet they are constantly trying to pull things. I guess that's how they got the money for the new Mercedes in Korea.

God I wish I had a Korean friend!!!!!!!!!

[hari seldon]

Korea's National Tax Service has an English-speaking helpline for foreigners. They'll answer questions about your tax withholding, for example. They can be reached at 02-397-1440 or 02-2076-5711.

You also have the option of e-mailing them questions. The NTS website is:
http://www.nta.go.kr/eng/

[hari seldon]

[ontheway]

Most teachers here actually live in a Condominium and not in an Apartment. Your school has rented it from an individual owner and it is not owned by the building managers who are providing services to the condo owners.

"Apahtuh" is Konglish for "condominium."
"Konedo" is Konglish for "hotel suite."

These services are a monthly utility in Korea and are a legitimate monthly expense like any other utility. No doubt your contract states that you will pay utilities and this is one of them. That said, there should be a monthly statement that you can see, just like the telephone and electric bills.

In my own case, this monthly fee seems high, until you realize that it includes all of my monthly utility bills except gas and phone. The Condo management company compiles all the bills into one monthly statement. They are all itemized there, in Korean of course. My Condo management bill includes: electric, tv tax, water, sewer, trash and recyling service, monthly pest control, cleaning of the interior hallways and lighting, underground parking, storage, maintenance and repair crews for some maintenance items inside the unit etc.

Other people have lower monthly condo "maintenance" fees, but they have individual bills for water, sewer, electric, cable, etc.

Finally, my winter heating cost is so much lower being in a higher quality Condo than when I lived in one of the few real apartments in Korea and had to pay for oil heat, that even with all the added services and associated costs of living in a condo, my total expenses for the year are cheaper.